Rolled oats – Mk I

I took one look at my mate Rich’s scrummy oaten loaf, and thought I just had to give it a lash . . . 

Here’s the ingredient list: 

·        *  1 ¼ cups of tepid tap water

·         * 1 cup of rolled oats (I used some that can be microwaved quickly as a breakfast cereal)

·         * 2 ¼ cups of plain white flour

·         * 1 tbspn of raw sugar

·        *  1 tbspn of table marg

·         * 1 tspn of salt

·         * 1 ¼ tspns of dry yeast. 

I set Bev the Breville for a medium crust on the wholegrain cycle (more on this soon).

The dough seemed VERY sticky after the initial knead, and I thought I’d stuffed up somehow. Rich’s recipe is somewhat different (see: http://forthedough.posterous.com/).

However, it rose spectacularly before the baking cycle kicked in.

But towards the end, the crown of the loaf collapsed. It smelt great, sounded hollow as a good baked loaf should, but the top looked like it has been scalped by Sitting Bull!

My wife Faye thinks I possibly should have added more plain flour. Perhaps I should have set Bev on the slightly gentler white-loaf setting. Anyway, I won’t know until I try another loaf tomorrow – adjusting both the ingredients and machine setting.

Meanwhile, I'll use this loaf for tomorrow's lunches. 

The final result? Well, apart from being cosmetically challenged, everything about it is ideal . . . The crust is crusty, and the loaf is easy to cut (using an old bread knife). It's consistency is good, without being too open, and it's not crumbly.

It tastes rich and malty - no doubt thanks to the oats.

Oh well, looks can be deceiving. And as one of my railway modeling buddies puts it: If at first you don’t succeed  . . . use a bigger hammer (or in my case, more flour)!